Tuesday was awesome! I was able to take all 3 of the concert bands at Mercer to the PMEA Instrumental Adjudication festival at Westminster College. I am very pleased with the groups and their performance. Pennsylvania’s adjudication circuit allows directors to choose music from the state list (which NEEDS serious revamping PMEA!!! Not that I dwell on the problems within […]
Today marked the second day without a student teacher for the first time since Mid-January. Over the past eight weeks, I had the pleasure of working with Nick Samson (from YSU), and in a couple of weeks Krista Schmidt (from GCC) will join me. I enjoy the opportunity to have student teachers come in to the program, and watch them […]
I need to keep evolving. That means staying current, and that means staying up with what these youngsters are listening to. So it requires some time on my part and sometimes painfully enduring the contrived chord progressions and hollow lyrics of any number of artists that students feel compelled to ask me to listen to. So I decided I would […]
The pieces have been saved from our band rooms, but there are plenty of you out there who didn’t realize MY BAND ROOM IS ON FIRE! There is still time to make a save, as the fire is still burning. Join in on the conversation and save a piece of music (just no more than seven). As you can tell […]
So begins today a new chapter in my search for “notes”. Call me Indiana Jones with a pencil, staff paper and baton. My living is to teach music to some wonderful students in Mercer, Pennsylvania. My most important job is being a father to three daughters. My passion lies in writing music for concert bands. To me there is no […]
